THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
MICHELLE ROWLAND MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL BUSINESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CITIZENSHIP AND MULTICULTURALISM
MEMBER FOR GREENWAY
TURNBULL FAILS TO BRING LIBS INTO LINE ON HATE SPEECH
Malcolm Turnbull faces a serious split in his own party as a number of Liberal Senators bucked the party line to back a Bill to water down section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, a proposal supposedly abandoned by the Coalition Government last year.
Speaking in the Senate today, Liberal Senators, Ian MacDonald, Zed Seselja and Chris Back endorsed Senator Bob Day's attack on the race hate speech protections in the Act.
This is a failure of leadership by Malcolm Turnbull, who has refused to make his Government's position clear and pull the right wing of his party into line.
Despite the Liberal Party's ideological obsession, communities around Australia have made their views clear. Section 18C has served Australians well for almost 20 years and should not be watered down.
Continued Liberal support for this divisive Bill defies Malcolm Turnbull's commitment to adopting more inclusive Government rhetoric.
At a time when recent findings from the Scanlon Foundation reveal worrying trends in our migrant communities - including increased levels of discrimination and a reduced sense of belonging it is very disappointing Malcolm Turnbull has failed to pull his Senators into line on maintaining our race hate speech protections.
THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2015
